Collection documenting the career of British Catholic author Francis Thompson, through correspondence; manuscripts of essays, plays, poetry, and reviews; notebooks; works by others regarding Thompson in the form of biographies, criticism, translation, and performing and visual arts inspired by his poetry.

Insight into Thompson's life is provided by his correspondence with publishers and friends, particularly the editors at The Academy and the Meynell family. His financial reality is demonstrated by royalty statements and pawn tickets, while his activities and interests are captured through ephemera from libraries and social events.

Thompson's poetry manuscripts include draft and fair copies of many individual poems, as well as complete manuscripts of his two books of poetry assembled for the publisher. His creative writing is further documented through five unpublished plays. Essays cover topics from literary criticism to religion and philosophy, and his views on contemporary authors are summarized in his reviews of their books. All of this writing also appears throughout Thompson's notebooks, along with his reflections, daily observations, and research, particularly on mythology and symbolism in classical literature. Highlights of Thompson's writing include drafts of his poem "The Hound of Heaven," his essay on the British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and reviews of his peers Alice Meynell and Coventry Patmore.

Thompson's literary influence is documented through scholarship--ranging from newspaper articles to book-length critical theses--analyzing his life and works. Thompson's poetry inspired art, drama, and music, which are substantiated by scores, audio and video recordings, and photographs in this collection. Also included are translations of the poems "The Hound of Heaven" and "To W.M." into more than fifty languages.